Then you write as a Nobel laureate

According to Alfred Nobel's will, the Nobel Prize in literature is to be awarded to someone who "has produced the most excellent in the ideal direction in literature".

How it should be interpreted has varied since the prize was first awarded in 1901.

- The award winners have corresponded to the Academy's ideal of style. In the early 1900s, the author's morale was important, sometimes even more important than the literary qualities, says Kristian Fredén, who wrote the book "Write as a Nobel Laureate".

In his work on the book, he has discovered that the 111 authors, (13 women) who received the award, have some in common.

- They have been avid readers. In one way or another, they have been obsessed with literature and writing. They haven't given up.

Other things several of the names that have shaken the king's hand in common are the ability to dig (write) where they stood.

- Selma Lagerlöf found her voice as a writer by returning to her warm-country roots. Gabriel García Márquez worked in much the same way, though on the other side of the globe. It seems to be an advantage to write about something you know yourself, without it having to be autobiographical, ”says Kristian Fredén.

Humor is also good. If it is serious enough.

- Humor shows up in the most unexpected contexts. Elfriede Jelinek for example. It's not direct feel good literature, but can be hysterically funny in the middle of all the black. Horace Engdahl has described it as eliciting "desperate laughter". They are often associated with dark humor.

Anyone who wants to become the literary prize winner of the future is wise to put a great deal of effort into the editing phase. And to mimic successful writers. And have very high goals.

- This is when you reduce what weighs the text. For example, to delete unnecessary adverbs. It is important to find the balance between self-confidence and self-criticism, says Kristian Fredén.

- You still have to think that what you do should be the best in the world. And don't be afraid to imitate others. Feel free to combine different authors' styles. For example, how do you combine Herta Müller and Hemingway?

Although the Swedish Academy may not be blamed for being short-term trend-sensitive, the 20th century development has obviously played a role for which authors have been awarded.

- In the 30s, it was the more popular writers, more commercial, who got the prize. After that, a rule was introduced that an author must have been nominated at least a year before it could become relevant. You usually call the rule "lex Pearl Buck" after the 1938 award winner, says Kristian Fredén.

It is therefore a question of avoiding hasty conclusions.

After World War II, the "avant-garde" writers took their place in the Academy's definition of genius and taste.

- It was Hermann Hesse, TS Eliot and so on. Then you can say that the price gained a boost in confidence. Then came decades of more international outlook: more language areas and different parts of the world, says Kristian Fredén.

Kristian Fredén does not want to speculate on how the Swedish Academy of taste preferences will lie in the future.

- I think quality literature that touches people will exist, he says.

This article was originally published in 2015.